NVIDIA Surround Technology Performance Review

[Michaelius]

I don't agree with the magic assumption that everything is about "drivers." It has nothing to do with drivers. If that were the issue, it would have been fixed in the last 8 freaking months or however long it's been broken.

I think you wanted to say only 8 months IIRC infamous force speed bug in kotor with ati drivers lasted around a year

 

[kllrnohj]

IIRC infamous force speed bug in kotor with ati drivers lasted around a year

Eh, that's different. We are talking about an ATI feature not working vs. a game specific bug. Very different. For one, the game specific bug probably isn't a driver bug in the first place. Case in point, remember the long BF:BC2 load times? Everyone was like "omg omg ati drivers are the sux lolololol!" - right up until Nvidia's DX11 cards *had the exact same problem* - why? Because it was a game bug that ATI and Nvidia fixed for the lazy developers, which is something ATI and Nvidia do *way too often*.

 

[Action_Parsnip]

Eh, that's different. We are talking about an ATI feature not working vs. a game specific bug. Very different. For one, the game specific bug probably isn't a driver bug in the first place. Case in point, remember the long BF:BC2 load times? Everyone was like "omg omg ati drivers are the sux lolololol!" - right up until Nvidia's DX11 cards *had the exact same problem* - why? Because it was a game bug that ATI and Nvidia fixed for the lazy developers, which is something ATI and Nvidia do *way too often*.

The battlefield games always seem really bugged. The sh1ty server browser in bf2 anyone?

 

[bexamous]

This is where nVIDIA has to be complemented and their "Way Its Meant To Be Played" program. They spend the time and money to work with game developers and ensure that the needed optimizations are in place when a game launches (or very soon after release) so we can get the best performance right away.

I dunno what program that is, maybe this is same thing, but regardless this is kinda interesting... So one day I was listening to some guy from Nvidia talk about their GTL lab which is some huge automation lab where game developers can submit builds of their game, it'll run through this automation lab that tests the build on a billion hardware configurations and try silly numbers of combinations of game settings and OSes, then some data mining is done on those results and some manual IQ comparisons are done and in the end Nvidia will give back what they think the best default settings are to play the game at, as well as any bugs they've run into during all this and so forth. So first of all that is kinda neat but then the neater part was when he explains how this all was started, he refers to Kyle by name and talks about how Hard came up with a new way of reviewing GPUs and how Nvidia took this idea and its what eventually spawned the GTL lab. So anyways this big sales speech is basically to try to get game developers to make game easy to automate and then actually submit builds, but no matter how Nvidia benefits, kinda seems pretty slick for game developers. I just remember it cause he talks about [H] alot and I was like "HEY I KNO THAT SITE!"

 

[Cecil]

Just got my third screen,

 

[Dan_D]

Very nice, what size are those?

I can't wait until I get my third 3007WFP-HC. That will kick ass.

 

[Matrices]

Your screens seem angled way too far in. Those look like the same screens I have. If you angle them in too far, you might lose the peripheral vision effect and your depth perception will be off.

 

[Cecil]

Yeah they are the VW266Hs. I have two desks together and hadnt cleaned off the other side of the right one yet to see how far out I can get them to go. I sit pretty clost in the middle of them though, so I dont think I need them straightened out too much, but we'll see.

 

[Matrices]

Here's how mine are set up, for reference. I like that I can pull my chair in to faceplant in front my center monitor or lean back and see everything at once.

 

[heatlesssun]

Very nice, what size are those?

I can't wait until I get my third 3007WFP-HC. That will kick ass.

Yeah, I had a really hard time choosing between 3 30"s and going 3D, but 3D was cheaper and I like my monitors close. I have to admit that 120Hz panels to me just seem easier for my old eyes but I would love to see what of performance people can get in native resolution with that kind of setup. And that's the other thing. No way you can drive all modern games in native resolution with that kind of setup. There's just SO may variables involved. I am thinking of adding like a secondary 30" display as in non-Surround you can drive up to six standalone monitors with the current drivers.

Here's my setup:

 

[LeninGHOLA]

Yeah, I had a really hard time choosing between 3 30"s and going 3D, but 3D was cheaper and I like my monitors close. I have to admit that 120Hz panels to me just seem easier for my old eyes but I would love to see what of performance people can get in native resolution with that kind of setup. And that's the other thing. No way you can drive all modern games in native resolution with that kind of setup. There's just SO may variables involved. I am thinking of adding like a secondary 30" display as in non-Surround you can drive up to six standalone monitors with the current drivers.

Here's my setup:

Nice setup, but I'm gonna mail you some wire ties

 

[revenant]

for me personally when I angle the side displays a little more in FPS games it reduces how much I notice the fish-eye affect... or at least it used to.. it doesn't bug me any more at all really.. but when I play mmorgs or other 3rd person perspective games I for sure like them less angled.

 

[heatlesssun]

Nice setup, but I'm gonna mail you some wire ties

Yeah, I'm constantly moving things around that it just would take so much time and what's in this pic is just the tip of the iceburg.

 

[Cecil]

Here's how mine are set up, for reference. I like that I can pull my chair in to faceplant in front my center monitor or lean back and see everything at once.

What mount are you using?

One thing I am unhappy with is my desks dip in a little in the middle, so the screens dont line up right. Ive got boards and pieces of cardboard under them now so they are all the same height, but no matter how I adjust them the bezels dont line up. Unless the bezels arent perfectly straight to begin with, cant really tell without a flat desk.

 

[Matrices]

What mount are you using?

One thing I am unhappy with is my desks dip in a little in the middle, so the screens dont line up right. Ive got boards and pieces of cardboard under them now so they are all the same height, but no matter how I adjust them the bezels dont line up. Unless the bezels arent perfectly straight to begin with, cant really tell without a flat desk.

http://www.++++++++++.com/product_info.php?products_id=15274

Ugh, what, another website that's on [H]'s blacklist? It's ergolalaladirect.com

The Sanus KTP320, using a 14" pole and the base. There's also a longstanding 10% off code you can apply from Widescreengamingforum.com somewhere. I only went with the smaller pole because it fits underneath my hutch.

I also had an issue where my bezels wouldn't line up. It was kind of hilarious as I was getting paranoid as to what the hell was going on - was the desk not straight?, was the floor not straight?, was my mind not straight?

I stripped the mount and sure enough, one side was taller than the other. It was either something I'd done or the one pre-assembly step someone else had done. Anyway, I completely reassembled it and things were much better.

 

[Astrodave]

Tying wires together is more trouble than it's worth. There has never been a time that I didn't have to cut all those damn ties to get rid of a cable or add a cable within weeks after doing it. I concentrate on the inside of my case and the cleanliness of my desk and let the rat's nest of cables under the desk be.

 

[Tudz]

Tying wires together is more trouble than it's worth. There has never been a time that I didn't have to cut all those damn ties to get rid of a cable or add a cable within weeks after doing it.

That's why I keep a pair of sidecutters on my desk

 

[Yikes2000]

Tying wires together is more trouble than it's worth. There has never been a time that I didn't have to cut all those damn ties to get rid of a cable or add a cable within weeks after doing it. I concentrate on the inside of my case and the cleanliness of my desk and let the rat's nest of cables under the desk be.

I switched to velcro a few years ago, both inside and outside of the case. It works wonders especially with three computers (personal desktop, family server, and Debian development server).

 

[Matrices]

Anyone have problems with Wings of Prey? Worked for me fine in Surround using the first 64-bit betas but now it won't with the pre-WHQLs. Downloading the WHQL now.

 

[spin-dizzy]

Fantastic article - had it bookmarked since it was first posted, waiting to have time to read it properly.

Quick question - any thoughts on what I might expect with my dual 295s in quad-SLI setup?

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